Collecting Presidential Dollars

Introduction

New commemorative coins intended for general circulation will be with us far beyond the 2008 expiration of the 50 State Quarters Program.  This is because congress passed, and President George W. Bush signed into law, #1047, the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005.

In a nutshell, this Act provides for the production by the U.S. Mint of circulating dollar coins honoring deceased presidents of the the United States.  The coins will minted at the rate of four per year beginning in 2007.

Currently 38 presidents have been laid to rest long enough to meet the guidelines for inclusion in the program.  This assures that new dollar coins will appear for at least 10 years or until 2016.  The program could last longer depending on when current living ex-presidents pass away.

Description of the Coins

The planchets used will be of the same manganese-based clad alloy as the current Sacagawea dollar.  The coin will be golden in color. 

The coins will incororarate some design features not used in the U.S. in many years.  Specifically, the new law requires that the year of issue plus the motto IN GOD WE TRUST and the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM be incused on the coin's edges. 

The name of the the individual depicted on the obverse will be spelled out, a first for U.S. coins intended for general circulation. 

On the reverse, a depiction of the Statue of  Liberty is mandated.  Therefore, the current requirement for U.S. coins that the word LIBERTY be used as a legend is waived.

Expected Popularity

The new dollar coins could be as popular as the Statehood Quarters and the Westward Journey Nickels for the following reasons: 

First of all, it is hoped that the coins will be readily accepted and used by the public, thus making the dollar coin a popular denomination.

Secondly, many new faces, not having previously achieved coin status, will appear.

Thirdly, the coin will have a distinctive and readily identifiable appearance. 

Fourthly, our old friend seigniorage should be operative.  For a complete discussion of this term, see my eBay Guide  entitled "Collecting State Quarters"

Eligible Presidents

Before being featured on the new dollar coin, the former president must be deceased for at least two years.  Thus, the current president and all living ex-presidents are currently ineligible for inclusion.

By these rules, then, the following presidents will appear in the order presented on the new dollar coins.  The early part of the list is fixed.  The latter portion of the list will be determined by the date of the death of the currently surviving ex-president.  In the end, presidents who served at an early age could be surviving without a commemorative dollar in their name, while older presidents who served in a later term of office have passed away and have a dollar commemorating their presidency.

 1.  George Washington  1797-1801
 2.  John Adams  1797-1801
 3.  Thomas Jefferson  1801-1809
 4.  James Madison  1809-1817
 5.  James Monroe  1817-1825
 6.  John Quincy Adams  1825-1829
 7.  Andrew Jackson  1829-1837
 8.  Martin Van Buren  1837-1841
 9.  William Henry Harrison
 10.  John Tyler  1841-1845
 11.  James K. Polk  1845-1849
 12.  Zachary Taylor  1849-1850
 13.  Millard Fillmore  1850-1853
 14.  Franklin Pierce  1853-1857
 15.  James Buchanan  1857-1861
 16.  Abraham Lincoln  1861-1865
 17.  Andrew Johnson  1865-1869
 18.  Ulysses S. Grant  1869-1877
 19.  Rutherford B. Hayes  1877-1881
 20.  James A. Garfield  1881
 21.  Chester A. Arthur  1881-1885
 22.  Grover Cleveland  1885-1889
 23.  Benjamin Harrison  1889-1893
 24.  Grover Cleveland  1893-1897
 25.  William McKinley  1897-1901
 26.  Theodore Roosevelt  1901-1909
 27.  William Howard Taft  1909-1913
 28.  Woodwrow Wilson  1913-1921
 29  Warren G. Harding  1921-1923
 30.  Calvin Coolidge  1923-1929
 31.  Herbert Hoover  1929-1933
 32.  Franklin D. Roosevelt  1933-1945
 33.  Harry S Truman  1945-1953
 34.  Dwight D. Eisenhower  1953-1961
 35.  Jonh F. Kennedy  1961-1963
 36.  Lyndon B. Johnson  1963-1969
 37.  Richard M. Nixon  1969-1974
 38.  Gerald R. Ford  1974-1977
 39.  Jimmy Carter  1977-1981
 40.  Ronald Reagan  1981-1989
 41.  George W. Bush  1989-1993
 42.  William Clinton  1993-2001
 43.  George W. Bush  2001-2008

The new law specifies that separate coins be produced for presidents serving non-consecutive terms, but that a single coin is to be issued for presidents serving consecutive terms.  Thus, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served 4 consecutive terms, will honored with 1 Presidential Dollar, while Grover Cleveland, who served 2 presidential terms interrupted by the term of Benjamin Harrison, will be honored with 2 Presdential Dollars.

An Album of Merit

As the coins debut, the publishers of coin albums will supply the needs of the collecting community with all sort of materials to protect and display the recent additions to their collections.  If the past is any guide, they will supply big albums, little albums, cheap albums  and dear albums as well albums supplied with all sorts of information about the various presidents.  This would include photographs, biographical material, political affiliations, and domestic and world events during their administration.

One such album already exists and it is a knockout.  It is the "Presidential Dollars" Album published by Littleton Publishing.  A few images taken from the album are shown below.   It is available for sale at locations catering to numismatists.

Conclusion

The Presidential Dollar program is a series of commerative coins intended for general circulation in the tradition of the 50 State Quarters issue and the Westward Journey Nickels issue.  A successful outcome for the program is not guaranteed, however.  The effort to the replace the dollar bill with a coin has met with obstacles in the past--take the Anthony Dollar and the Sacagawea Dollar.  Both failed to gain widespread puplic acceptance.

In the future, media attention is virtually assured as the Presidential dollar is initially released into circulation.  Coverage in the press and elsewhere will be given to the obverse rendition of the various presidents and reverse rendition of the Statue of Liberty.

Along the way will be excitement generated by the extension of the 50 State Quarters Program.  Pending legislative approval, the original program will extended by one year to allow the production of quarters for the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories.

On the heels of this, the President Lincoln Birthday Commemorative Series will be launched in 2009.  It consists of five new coins in total, four honoring various stages in Lincoln's career plus one final cent honoring Lincoln's total contribution to this country.

By the way, the year 2009 marks some sort of milestone in the coin world.  During that year, five Statehood Quarters will be minted, four Presidential Quarters will be minted, and four Lincoln Commemorative Cents will be minted.